Words + Images

I have to admit that when I clicked the box to request the book, I wasn’t really paying attention.  I thought I’d selected Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.  But I hadn’t.  I’d selected the complementary lined journal.  I thought, “Well, heck.” I flipped through the compact little book, a mostly traditional lined journal denoting month and day but no actual year.  On the top right corner of the right pages, every now and then would flash the question, “Does it spark joy?” Then every once in a while would pop up turquoise pages with white print.  I liked Joy manifests itself in the body and Make your life shine.  Not all of the statements resonated with me but they were all thought-provoking.  They made me pause and ponder.  And I think it is that behavior– of pausing — that is part of the life-changing magic.

Even after I put the book aside, unsure of what to do with it, and even as I went about my life, I found myself asking the question at the wierdest moments, “Hmmm, does this spark joy in my life?”  I have asked similar questions of other people for much of my adult life, but it is not often that I ask it of myself.  That’s the beauty of the little book for me.

While I apply that question, Does it spark joy?, to all sorts of activities, I think the origin of Ms. Kondo’s query had to do with helping people literally organize their lives.  To declutter. I don’t have a problem with clutter but I think we can all be reminded to pause and reflect upon what is bringing us joy in this world.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this honest review.

More information …

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/536430/life-changing-magic-a-journal-by-marie-kondo/

http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-origin-story-of-marie-kondos-decluttering-empire